AUSTRLIA: Film director Peter Greenaway writes libretto for opera writing for Vermeer premiered at the Adelaide festival

Record ID: 707609

  • Title: AUSTRLIA: Film director Peter Greenaway writes libretto for opera writing for Vermeer premiered at the Adelaide festival
  • Date: 2nd April 2000
  • Summary: ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, RECENT (REUTERS) (PERFORMANCE CLEARANCES) WATER SCENES FROM WRITING TO VERMEER
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2000 13:00
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  • Location: ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Reuters ID: LVA8B4KE5LOVY1DKWP7IN56K5PZN
  • Story Text: British film director and visual artist, Peter Greenaway has made his southern hemisphere debut in the world of opera.His latest operatic collaboration, 'Writing to Vermeer', staged by the Netherlands Opera, was the main attraction of this weeks Adelaide Arts Festival in South Australia.But the man who shocked the world with films such as; The Cook, The Thief, his Wife and her Lover said it's unlikely he'll ever try to make a film of an opera again.
    British film director, Peter Greenaway, wrote the libretto for 'Writing to Vermeer' a narrative opera inspired by the work of 17th Century Dutch painter, Jan Vermeer.
    It's southern hemisphere premiere was the opening production of the 21st biennial Adelaide Festival, in South Australia.
    Directed by Sashkia Boddeke and composed by Louis Andriessen 'Writing to Vermeer' is a contemporary opera an all female cast, a libretto sung in English and backed by numerous high-tech multimedia projections.
    Greenaway said the collaboration between the three was set to continue on future operatic projects but believes that in some respects film and opera don't mix.
    So had he any feeling about making a feature based on this opera? "The last opera," Greenaway, "the three of us and Louis Andriessen made was called Rosa which we did commit to film but through various circumstances it's been seen by very few people I really do feel in the end opera is really unfilmable because of its particular characteristics.So when you record it on film you're probably doing something else so I worry and it's quite wise I think to worry about the language the notion of those big wide stages and those single wide shots all the time carries over to the celluloid.
    "It was very important I think that Vermeer was rediscovered after the invention of photography He languished for a couple of hundred years not completely forgotten but as soon as we started looking at photographic realism Vermeer's reputation grew very rapidly.Gadar a very famous French film director suggested Vermeer was the very first cinematographer because he dealt in a world totally controlled by light and split seconds of time and those two characteristics are probably the two most important charateristics of cinema so there is something very modern about his viewpoint something very familiar about his work." The Adelaide arts festival held once every two years is Australia's premiere arts event.It features a combination of international and local arts events in dance, theatre, writing, music and the visual arts.
    Adelaide Festival director Robyn Archer announced Writing to Vermeer would perform at the festival last May months before the opera was completed.
    Robyn Archer, Festival Director, "As much as we can say it was risky for us to do it was also risky for the Netherlands Opera, and for Saskia and for Louis and for Peter and for Reinbert Delue (conductor) to bring a brand new work not knowing all its logistics way before they even did it it was a very interesting process really from a year-and-a-bit out, really two and a half years and then getting into detail about what it means to bring it out here particularly on the technical side and following it all through.It was also a risk for them to do it they didn't demand that they're orchestra came and play with the Adelaide Symphony orchestra who under Reinberts direction have been sounding fantastic." The libretto is based on a series of fictional letters written to the artist by the three women in his life Catherine played by Susan Narucki, his mother in law, Maria played but Susan Bickley and a fictional model Saskia played by Barbara Hannigan.
    The letters were sent after he moved to The Hague in 1672.Vermeer finished only 32 paintings before he died in 1675 at the age of 43.It was a period during which Holland suffered, war, sectarian violence and hugely destructive floods.
    The Netherlands Opera have commissioned several new contemporary operas in recent years.Writing to Vermeer made its world premiere in Amsterdam last December and will tour to New York later this year.
    However the new style brought a mixed reaction from some fans.
    "There's an awful lot of material and an awful lot ot technical elements I'm unsure about how the various elements merge with one another.," another, "I thought it was fantastic, I thought it was really fantastic", another fan " Basically a very beautiful history lesson, whole bunch of letters put to music but that was it but wonderful, visually wonderful, terribly hard to follow the narrative without a synopsis of some form.Visually? Just like a Vermeer painting." Saskia Boddeke Director Writing to Vermeer said " I don't think it's a new style but I think we move away from traditional narratives and what it does is make it difficult for a conventional audience because it's not a clean story or developed it's more imagery or metaphors which are related to one another which lead to the crescendo at the end." Boddeke and Greenaway's first operatic collaboration five year's ago Rosa A Horse Drama provoked outrage and shocked audiences with its depiction of sado-masochism.
    Greenaway is no stranger to confronting audiences.Ten years ago when Greenaway's The Cook The Thief His Wife and His Lover was banned in several countries after it depicted cannibalism..
    Greenaway was asked "How do you cope with outrage and fury at your work? "It's necessary you know provocation is also part of the business you know because you don't want to produce bland works which massage the prejudices of an audience.You've got to travel forward explore the medium in form and content and push barriers." This opera has been billed as a multimedia production complete with video projections; several tonnes of water; a cast of 23, an orchestra of 53 and even a cow.
    Greenaway asked about whether he had explored the world of new technology? " That's certainly been part of my interest and I think the films I've made over the past five years reflect that but I think if you look closely at the screen you can see it's been edited on an avid machine all this multiplication of imagery all this phasing and changing of the time span ll for new technology use of image making".
    How do you feel about it? "I think we both feel really excited about it.I think you have to use it with discipline and intelligence so it doesn't become a gimmick but I think we should embrace every possibility of media in order to put forward the ideas that we're interested in.
    "You don't agree with (Canadian film director) David Cronenberg's suggestion that each new media that comes along we adapt it to our sexuality?" "That's a typical Cronenberg saying isn't it? You could almost see him saying it.I suppose there are people like Wim Wenders who say there are too many images in the world.I would not go along with these sorts of notions at all every new artist every new artist worth his salt has used contemporary technology you can say that about; Eisenstein, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and you can certainly say it about Vermeer.
    Because he, way back in the 1670's was using the camera obscura a very up to date technology for that particular part of the century." "What's happening to your film career? " "I'm still making movies.I made a movie last year called 8 and a half Women, and very shortly we start working on some more movies I certianly want that line to continue because that language to me is important" "Is cinema still your first love? " "I think rather like Saskia I think our business is putting our ideas over in visual images and whether those are on a stage or on a canvas for me or on celluloid there's a sharing back and forth that's quite legitimate of describing the world in visual images which I think is my main preoccupation." "And you've been able to do it through 70 films now?" "There's been a lot of films and let's hope they'll be more opera collaborations in the future.
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